It takes stepping out of the proverbial box to reach a society where traditional methods of evangelism have been difficult.
It takes stepping out of the proverbial boundries to reach a society where traditional methods of evangelism have been difficult. That’s the word from Seventh-day Adventist church leaders in the Netherlands, where a series of church-planting operations have introduced new ways to reach out to the community.
“Uni&K” (unique) is a café-style church organized with the young adults of Utrecht, a leading commercial and educational center, in mind. Church leaders report that they are holding two small group meetings, conducting a weekly worship service, as well as a monthly Friday evening worship service.
“The Netherlands Union [administrative region] wants to think outside the traditional box and is keen to encourage different kinds [of] church growth experiments,” says Reinder Bruinsma president of the Adventist Church there.
While worshipping in a different way, Uni&K still faces traditional challenges. A concern is whether they will permanently attract a significant number of people to make it an officially organized Seventh-day Adventist Church. But they are hopeful.
“Our pastor and lay leaders must know that we stand ready for continued support in developing new ways of reaching out to the unchurched,” Bruinsma says.
“Thank God for the vitality and a passion for reaching out in new ways, which we now see in many places in the church that was not there even some years ago,” he adds.
The café church is one of several such churches throughout Europe, begun in response to the changing needs of a “post-Christian” society being found throughout the continent.
Although such changes are often lamented, the shift in society is officially recognized nonetheless. According to the Internet Web site of the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs, “The influence of the [Christian] [c]hurch in the Netherlands has been on the decline since the 1950s. ... This has resulted in secularization among both Protestants and Catholics. [T]he majority of Dutch people are no longer members of a church ...”
There are 4,352 Seventh-day Adventist Christians worshipping in 50 congregations in the Netherlands.
